Memorial Day In Branson

Well, it has been a week since my last post, so I am going to use up all of the space that I would have used in week of posting...all in one post. :)

I'm sorry.

Last Saturday, we woke up bright and early for our yard sale. We did pretty well...traded out lots of our rarely used stuff for some always used cash! Can't beat that! :)

After packing up the yard sale leftovers for Goodwill, we packed up ourselves, and a few bags, and headed to Branson for the holiday weekend.

The first night, we went to Branson Landing to see the sights and get something to eat. It is a nice, new shopping area with a GREAT fountain that shoots water and fire WAY into the air...all "choreographed" to music.

It was kind of rainy, so we ducked into a pizza place to grab a quick bite. Afterwards, when it had dried up a little, so we got to walk around.

While we were outside, one of the kids noticed that a favorite song of ours was playing...The Revelation Song, by Kari Jobe. We knew that it was coming from the direction of the fountains, so we quickly headed that way.

At first, we thought that it was a fountain show being done to that song, but as we got closer, we realized that a wedding was taking place in front of the fountains, and that the couple had chosen that song to play during their "prayer time".

If you look closely, you can see the bride and the groom in the front, with their guests seated around them. Since the wedding was being held in a public place, there were also lots of onlookers (like us) enjoying the moment with them.

The next morning, we got up and went to Silver Dollar City. We have taken our older kids there many times, so they both have great memories of the fun they have had over the years.

Here are the kids at the entrance...Carson has no idea what he is in for!

This was Carson's first ride after entering the park...

I am usually the most cautious of the bunch, and I was this time as well, but I let Corey talk me into taking my little guy on the log ride! He was tall enough, which I couldn't believe, and so despite my fears that he would be traumatized for the rest of the day, we all loaded into a log, and waited to see if Carson would love it or hate it...

I think he loved it, or liked it, or didn't hate it, because he didn't cry.

So we pressed on.

Here, Caylie and Christian are waiting in line for the Giant Barn Swing. I rode it with them, and LOVED it!

It is a thrill ride, so while we were at the top, the kids and I were screaming, with our hands up in the air. Corey and Carson were watching from below, and Carson was not so sure what he thought about seeing me screaming.

When I would swing out of sight, Carson would say to Corey, "I need to see mama." :)

Here we are after all of the excitement.

You'll have to excuse the dorky looking hat.

After the log ride, I had the look of a drowned rat...the hat was just the lesser of two evils!

Here, Christian and Carson shoot little balls through an air gun in the kiddie area. Fun stuff.

Carson was tall enough to ride the swings, so the kids and I enjoyed doing this ride together. There were seats made for two riders, so Carson and Caylie rode together.

Back in the kiddie area, Caylie rode the Bouncing Frogs with Carson.

Christian rode another fun ride with him.

And then he rode his first ever "solo" ride!

The man in charge of the ride even made an announcement that it was Carson's first time to ride all by himself. :)

He had his own little cheering section every time he passed by...us!

We didn't get a picture of it, but he was doing his little "try to hold back the smile" face that we all think is so funny!

He said almost NOTHING all day.

I think that he was simply so overwhelmed, that he was just taking it all in.

I know that he enjoyed it because he was never fussy...he was just kind of in shock all day!

Thumbs up, while maintaining a poker face after getting off of the Lady Bug ride!

My two boys checking out the funny mirror!

Throughout the day, it had been sprinkling, but not so much that it slowed us down. I had my dork hat, and Carson had a little windbreaker with a hood. The rest of the bunch didn't care if they got wet, so we just kept going.

Later in the day things took a turn for the worst.

A BIG TURN.

The sky just opened up and it began to rain buckets...with no end in sight.

After waiting it out in a covered area for a while, and seeing no improvement, we decided that we were just going to have to resign ourselves to getting drenched in order to get out of the park.

We checked out a map, and saw that since we were in the very back of the park (of course!), we could break up our freezing water run by stopping in a store in the middle of the park.

Here we are at the halfway point...soaking wet, and freezing. We just wanted to thaw out a little before taking off on the 2nd half of our trek.

In keeping with the rest of the day, Carson just kind of went with the flow, and took it all in.

My three soggy little troopers...

While we had to wind things up a little earlier than we had planned, the kids were happy to have done what they did.

They were good sports.

The following day, we went to a yummy breakfast buffet, and then wound up our trip to Branson with a visit to the Titanic Museum.

While I would HIGHLY recommend visiting this museum, I would NOT recommend taking your toddler...or at least not my toddler! :)

While the rest of us could have stayed for hours, reading every bit of interesting information, and soaking in all of the fascinating pictures, etc., Carson did not have quite the same appreciation for the whole experience.

I will have to figure out a way to go back sometime without my little guy and REALLY take it all in.

Seriously. :)

Writing the Waves,
Christi